365 Days Earlier
by Madi Ennelyn Stone
Summary: I had time to think one last clear thought before I fell completely into blackness. The headlines tomorrow... "Fang, International Pop Star, killed by kidnapper in tragic accident..." How did Max get involved with one of the most famous singers in the world? Let's take it back 365 days, when she first heard his name. No wings. Fax. R&R? (:


**~ Author's Note ~**

**Hello everyone, it's me again. I've decided to tackle two stories at once. I'm currently working on another fic, Good Girls Go Bad, which has been receiving a lot of positive feedback- yay! If you would like, go check it out. But I would like another project to do, so I can take a break from the drama of GGGB. (; Enjoy, please read and review!**

***Disclaimer* **

**Maximum Ride is not mine. Thank you, JP, for letting me borrow her and her family.**

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_Chapter One: Day 365_

The smell of gas was what I was most aware of.

There was intense heat, flames licking at my skin and burning any cloth that covered it. I could feel the presence of shattered glass lodged into me. There was also screaming in the distance... it sounded like a young girl. There was the wale of police sires and firetrucks, too. But of all the things happening around me, I was most aware of the smell of gas.

I thought of all the days spent in his garage, fixing his crappy car, despite all the money he had. He could have bought a new one, a nice one... and I wouldn't put it past a fancy car company to give him one for free, because of all the publicity that it would get. But no, instead, he stuck with an old and beyond beat up 1998 Toyota Camry. The engine ran poorly and there was less paint on the car than exposed parts where it had chipped off. I had become more than familiar with the smell of gas after all that time spent in the garage. The car was a piece of shit and should have been sold years ago.

He fucking loved that thing.

The exhaust usually managed to find it's way into the interior, making me gag and get awful headaches. Somehow, he had grown immune to all the issues. It was a child other it's mother could love, him being the mother. I was the stepfather that hated it with a passion. But what can I say?

Any amount of pain was worth being with him.

I slowly opened my eyes, delirious, and examined the scene around me. There was blood dripping into my eyes, and I could tell I was injured, but it didn't really hurt. Everything was numb... there was a faint edge of black around my vision, and everything was blurry. Huh.

_He _was sitting to my left. Head draped over the steering wheel, eyes closed, mouth open, blood pouring out.

"Fang." I said weakly. "Fang."

I sounded faintly like Rose in _Titanic. _I chuckled to myself for a few moments. He hated that movie. He thought that the deaths of hundred of people shouldn't be turned into entertainment. If he was awake to hear me, he would of told me to shut up and quit my imitation.

My eyebrows knit together.

Why _wasn't _he awake?

The blackness began to grow around my vision, but I reached over and shook his shoulder.

"Fang, please wake up. Please, baby, come on."

Shaking him did not result in any response. No words came out of his mouth. Just blood, pooling into his lap. That was an awful a lot blood...

Something was wrong. Did we get into an accident? The more I tried to think, the harder it became to see. The blackness was like waves coming in with the tide, slowly but surely. My thoughts were blurring together into an incoherent mess. I rested my head on the seat behind me, trying to make sense of what was happening.

This wasn't good.

Soon enough, there was only a pinhole that I could see. I could faintly feel the arms of a firefighter carrying me out of the wreckage, but it was distant, like a dream. I was hovering in the emptiness that was my thoughts, lost in blackness, that odor of gas going away.

I had time to think one last clear thought before I fell completely into blackness.

_The headlines tomorrow... "Fang, international pop star, killed by kidnapper in tragic accident..."_


End file.
